London
04 June 2008
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he is working with African leaders to get international observers into Zimbabwe to ensure that the upcoming presidential runoff election there is free and fair. Tendai Maphosa has more in this report from London.
During Wednesday's parliamentary debate in London, leader of the opposition Liberal Democratic party Nick Clegg brought up the issue of stripping Mr. Mugabe of the honorary knighthood bestowed on him by the British government in 1994. Prime Minister Brown responded, saying it is not a priority.
"Mr. Speaker I am less interested in the symbols than the substance and we have got to get elections in Zimbabwe that are seen to be free and fair," he added. "Zimbabweans deserve to have a government that is fully democratically elected put in place."
However a Foreign Office spokesman, speaking on condition anonymity, told VOA that there have been calls for the withdrawal of the knighthood and, he said, the matter is under review. Last year Edinburgh University became the first institution to strip Mr. Mugabe of an honorary degree bestowed on him in 1984.